00.09.41

Woman singing in the rice field

 

 

00.10.05

 

Whatever the day, this village woman's gentle singing drifts throughout the rice fields, or "bolanha". This waterlogged land where she stands all day, trying to stop the weeds from gaining strength, holds the one of Guinea-Bissau's most precious resources: rice

 

00.10.24

 

Sábado Dias rises with the sun to spend each long day bending over this land, in quiet solitude.

 

00.10.33

Sábado Dias

 

Int- Why are you here alone?

SD- Because all of my children are away in Bissau, studying.

Int- And your husband?

SD- My husband is that big man over there, he is my husband.

Int- Does he come to the "bolanha" with you?

SD- No, it belongs to him but he doesn't come to work.

Int: Why not?

SD- Because there's no money in working this land.

00.11.04

 

The only people willing to work the land are women. The past year has been one which the people of Guinea Bissau will never forget.

 

00.11.13

Sábado Dias

 

This has been a terrible year, we are very tired. Since the war began the children have received nothing, there's starvation everywhere, all we have left is this rice field.

00.11.26

 

The 'bolanha' is carefully cultivated in the hope of a generous crop. Every mouth depends on the harvest and on the work of this strong woman.

 

00.11.38

Sábado Dias

 

SD. I cannot sing anymore.

Int: Why not?

SD: Because there is no more milk for tomorrow. The milk is finished. The food is finished. How can I sing?

 

 

 

 

00.12.20

song: Canoa Ca Na N'kadka

The republic of Guinea-Bissau has enjoyed relatively peaceful years since it won its independence from Portugal in 1974.  But in June 1998, this vibrant population became the victims of yet another African war, which would draw in troops from neighbouring countries. Today there is a ceasefire, but previous ones have been broken. This is an African parable of defiance in the face of war.

 

 

 

 

 

00.13.16

 

Members of the military took up arms against the government after the sacking of the army chief-of-staff. All-out civil war erupted on 7th June 1998.

 

00.13.30

Sounds of bombs whistling

 

 

00.13.38

Title

 

 

00.13.48

 

Sidney is no older than 10 but has summoned all the strength he can muster to rebuild what the war has taken away from him.

The area of Bairro da Ajuda in the capital Bissau suffered terribly during the violent days of June.

When the rainy season arrived, it brought with it storms of a different nature.

 

 

00.14.07

 

Sidney's family quickly fled to the interior of the country, to stay with relatives and there they have remained. Only Sidney has had the courage to return and  face the wreckage.

 

00.14.19

Sidney

 

Int- Have you come here by yourself?

S- Yes.

Int- What for?

S- To tidy up.

Int- Have you come many times?

S-Yes.

Int- Why do you come alone?

S- My mum doesn't want any of us to come..I have to run away

Int- You run away?

S- Yes.

Int- Why do you run away?

S- To come over and tidy up. I love tidying up.

Int: And you like this house?

S: Yes.

Int: Do you think you will be living here again?

S: Yes. I think I will live here again.

00.14.48

 

Ever persistent, Sidney lives by the strength of his conviction that one day he will return to his family's home - for good..a home that was devastated by bombs.  They destroyed his bedroom, toys, clothes, shoes, but most of all they destroyed his peace of mind.

 

00.15.06

Sidney

 

Int- What makes you most upset?

S- To see my mother crying.

00.15.20

 

 

I want to come back here.

Int- You want to come back to this house?

Int- Yes.

Int- And you are afraid that you won't be able to come back?

S- Yes.

Int- Why do you like this house so much?

S- I have many friends here

S- And if you go and live somewhere else you will  lose them?

S- Yes.

Int- Did you have any toys here?

S- Yes, but my robot is broken.

Int- Your what?

S- My robot. And my police car too.

00.16.01

 

The block of flats where Sydney lived was next to the airport road, a prime target for the bombings.

 

00.16.08

 

When the revolution began most people left this area in the hope of finding somewhere far away from the miseries of war

 

00.16.17

 

Amadou and his entire family packed and locked up, and fled for three months.

When they returned to Bissau, they discovered that bombs were not the only thing to have invaded their home

 

00.16.31

Amadou

 

A- Nothing was left, apart from the sofa, and that  was because they couldn't carry it.. They  had dragged it to the door but were unable to take it away.

Int - What did they take?

A- They took the TV, video, stereo, fridge and freezer, six plates, the gas cooker, 3 mattresses- one for my bed and 2 children's mattresses.

00.17.01

 

Amadou Balde is a statistical  engineer, but since the revolution began there has been no work or money on the horizon.

 

00.17.09

 

At home, they have been forced to return to harder times.. Genadu is using a traditional crusher for palm fruit, to extract the flavour. Rice is cooked over a fire, which will be their only meal of the day.

 

00.17.24

Amadou

 

Int- How do you manage to survive?

A- Right now life is very hard.

Int- Do you have any money left?

A- No, no I don't.

Int: How do you live?

A- When I was in Gabu, my mother managed to give me some money. She sold her cow and gave me the money to start life again.

00.17.48

 

Slowly, Amadou is rebuilding his life, something he is only able to achieve with the help of his family.

 

00.17.55

Amadou

 

Int- Will you have to pay the carpenter here today?

A- No, my cousin is helping me. He is a trader in the Bandin market and has his own house, he felt sorry for me and he asked the carpenter to come and help me. My cousin will pay him.

00.18.16

 

The majority of the people in the Bissau districts fled as Amadou did.  Some went to the interior of the country ..and some abroad.

 

00.18.25

 

But Gabriela Ferreira did the opposite: she fled to the centre of Bissau to her home in  Bairro de St. Luzia. Her heart has never left the city. She is bound to her son who refused to leave.

 

00.18.37

Gabriela Ferreira

 

GF - My son stayed here, he would go and come back, but he always slept here. I was away, but always worried about him, thinking that a bomb might fall here. The house is made of zinc... have you seen what happened to the other houses! I was very worried for him.

00.18.53

 

Gabriela's son was the youngest man in the neighbourhood to stay in St. Luzia. He stayed and guarded the house where he had always lived.

 

00.19.02

Adilson

 

People were lying in the streets, because it was difficult to stay at home. People would come and stay under this mango tree, we would lie on the ground, in the mornings, in the afternoons or at night. Some would go to the shelter. That is how we spent our days.

00.19.18

 

Gabriela knows every corner of this neighbourhood. She misses the old bustling atmosphere. Here in St. Luzia, 16 families had their lives destroyed... 16 houses were reduced to rubble, the survivors had nothing left.

 

00.19.34

 

The few people that remained here would seek refuge under ground. They would hide inside caves,  for as many hours as necessary, hoping that a grenade wouldn't find its way to them.

 

00.19.46

JD

 

JD-This a hole that has been dug out to hide in.

Int- And you would come here?

JD - Yes, me and others.

Int- How many people would stay here?

JD- 5 people in this hole and the same over there.

Int - Did you feel secure?

JD - This was only to protect us from shrapnel, it is no good against canon fire... it's not strong enough.

00.20.15

 

Gabriela spent the war months in this old colonial area of Bissau... An area which for weeks was inhabited by silence and the whistle of the bombs. Every dawn Gabriela would jump out of bed and make her hasty journey along this route.

 

00.20.31

Gabriela

 

Often we would run here without even washing our faces. We would travel through this street to avoid passing the next one. It seemed that the whole world was running...men and women, everyone who slept at home...

00.20.43

 

They ran to the Ministry of Justice.

 

00.20.47

Images of July 98.

Sounds of bombs dropping. People crying in hiding

 

 

00.21.12

 

Throughout June and July 1998, the cellars at the Ministry of Justice were the only hope for many of Bissau's inhabitants. It was a haven for more than 200 people, crammed together, waiting for a miracle to put an end to their despair. Gabriela was a regular visitor.

 

00.21.32

Gabriela

 

G- Since the colonial war I have worked all over the country as a teacher. I witnessed the colonial war but it was nothing like this one, this one has left a terrible mark on me. It's because I have seen so many people die, especially in the Bairro de St. Luzia where I live. When we went to the rice field, to seek a safer place, we arrived just after the bombing.  I saw dead women with children on their backs, old people, disabled people, all dead... I was unable to pass through the field and had to come back to this bunker and let God guide me.

00.22.08

Children

 

 

00.22.12

Gabriela

 

When the bombs dropped the children would stare, the older women would start to scream, they would scream in a way that looked like that were having a heart attack. We could see the sadness in people's faces... and all that noise made people go deaf. And of course we were scared that shrapnel or even a bomb would come in here.

00.22.39

Sounds of bombings

 

 

00.22.42

 

There appeared to be no strategy to the bombings ..no targets.  Bissau was at the mercy of mistakes and miscalculations made by the soldiers.

 

00.22.57

Bodies, smoking bed; sounds of people crying

 

 

00.23.03

Man in the street

 

Man- There was a group of young men playing cards, it was a group of 8 boys...  7 of them died that night. Their house was on fire and I came to give a hand. You see, at the moment there are no fire engines.

Int. What caused the deaths?

Man- A bomb, We don't know where it came from. The bomb fell here and started the fire.

Int: Have there been other cases like this over the past few days?

Man: It's the second time a bomb has fallen in this neighbourhood, but the first time people have died.

00.23.51

blood on the stairs

The magnitude of the violence began to sink in. Even those who believed they were protected under strong staircases didn't escape. When dawn came, there was nothing to do but wait for the bombs to land in the city streets.

 

00.24.04

Men in the street

 

A bomb went off here and killed the young man who worked here as a guard. He sold cigarettes. His family was here, his children and his wife, I think four people died ... the woman was cut to pieces...

00.24.22

 

That same morning on the other side of the  street the market had closed its doors. No vendor could compete with the conflict. As they fled, they left behind all their goods on the stalls, never dreaming that everything would be  devoured by flames.

 

00.24.42

 

The succession of bombings left all the survivors in awe..

 

00.24.51

Young woman

 

W: I don't know ... all I felt was something on my arm and I started screaming.. I touched my arm and told my brother  "my hand is broken" he answered

"Fatima, Fatima come."  I said "No, I can't move from here". He came over and picked me up and ran. He laid me down in a cart, and brought me here to this coconut tree. He then found a car and he took me to the hospital.

Int: Were you by yourself?

W: Yes, I was alone

Int : What about your family?

W: I am orphan of the war, the first war.

00.26.01

 

Fatima was taken to the only unit in Bissau that receives the wounded: The Simão Mendes Hospital. But even the hospital had come under attack. The wards' silence was shattered by  8 bombs, their infamous whistle searching for survivors.

 

00.26.19

Man in hospital

 

Int: Were you scared of being hit even here in hospital?

Man: Yes, I hid in the shelter, the shelter under the oven.

00.26.26

 

Francisco Nhagra had a plan: if he had to die, he would die alone. So he sent his family to safety, far from Bissau. Ironically, he was saved by an arm that he lost.

 

00.26.38

Francisco Nhara

 

FN: When the bomb went off I put my hand on top of my head ..and I think my hand saved me.. because when the shrapnel hit my hand it broke the bone and bounced off. That stopped it from hitting my head... otherwise I think I would have died.

00.27.05

 

The hospital itself was in turmoil. They had run out of everything. A  few doctors stayed on, but they had no medication or supplies to ease the pain of  the wounded.

 

00.27.20

Doctor

 

It was a terrible situation ..mostly because this was a civilian population and the majority of people were young. It was a awful. I never want experience such a thing again.

00.27.34

 

No one knows how many were wounded or killed in this war... the numbers can only be estimated by those who mourn their dead.

 

00.27.47

 

Bissau became a small, deserted town, void of its 300,000 inhabitants. Without means of communication it became totally isolated...impossible to come or go by any road.

 

00.28.00

 

Bissau was known as the town at the centre of the war, unfortunate home to the military base of Brá. A base which was soon seized by the rebels.

 

00.28.10

 

In the midst of all the destruction, a 76 year old man made an attempt to build a bridge between the two factions. Dom Septimmio Ferrazzetta, a bishop, was the first person to call for dialogue. Despite his European origin, he was so moved by the plight of the people, he walked through the Guinean swamp to show his face and his willingness to talk.

 

00.28.38

Dom Septimmio Ferrazzetta

 

 

 

 

 

 

SF: The sacrifice was well accepted. It was wanted.. it was chosen. Of course if the conditions were different, if the tide had been high we would have passed through much more easily, but it wasn't to be, it was the same as it is for these people. How long must the Guinean people suffer? My small sacrifice was nothing compared to what happens to them every day....This is the reality of their life. And no one has thought about improving this.

00.29.08

 

Dom Septimmio did all he could to restore the shattered peace but to no avail.

 

00.29.13

 

More than two decades have passed since the last war in Guinea Bissau, the colonial war. During the ten years of struggle for liberation from their Portuguese colonisers, Nino Vieira (the President of Guinea-Bissau) and Ansumane Mané (the deposed ex-chief of staff) shared many moments on the road to independence.

 

00.29.34

 

The seeds of rebellion were sown in January 1998 with the suspension of a group of senior officers of the Guinea Bissau army, officers led by the deposed Ansumane Mané...

 

00.29.46

Emilio Costa

 

EM : There was a conspiracy against Ansumane Mané, who was the General Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, and he was removed from his position. The reason he was given was that he was guilty of negligence. The President gave the order, a decree was issued which accused and suspended Ansumane Mané for reasons of negligence and which later claimed that Ansumane Mané was linked to the traffic of arms to seperatist groups in the Casamance region of Senegal.

00.30.34

 

Emilio Costa was one of the suspended officers. He helped organise the uprising led by Ansumane Mané. At dawn on June 7th, President Nino Vieira was preparing to leave the country to attend a summit of the Organisation of African Unity. But the break away soldiers stopped him in his tracks.

 

00.30.54

Emilio Costa

 

EC: If he had left the country and there had been no rebellion, then of course we would all have simply been arrested and shot.

Int: Who would arrest you? Where would the order have come from?

EC: It had already been given. The President himself had given it to the state security forces. We all knew about it that is why we had to rise up.  We thought "if that's how you want it then the President is not leaving".

00.31.25

 

Nino Vieira was forced to remain in Bissau but he had lost almost 90% of his army to the rebels.

Caged in the capital, the President called in foreign troops to take up arms against his old comrades.

 

00.31.40

Nino Vieira

 

N.V. The foreign troops are here because a democratically elected government has formally requested their help. When the government feels that it is time for them to leave we will ask them to leave. But not yet.

00.31.55

 

The President called in troops from neighbouring  Senegal to the north and Guinea Conakry to the south. In doing so he breached Guinea Bissau's constitution.

 

00.32.04

Helder Vaz

 

HV: There is no legitimacy in bringing in foreign troops. The government is in serious breach of the law. Firstly, because when the national assembly met for a permanent sitting on the 9th July, it decided that foreign troops who were in national territory, on or before the 9th June could not participate in the fighting, as they were to act as mediators only. Secondly, because the existing agreements between Senegal, Guinea Bissau and Guinea Conakry did not allow foreign armies to intervene beyond their own national borders. This means that the presence of foreign troops is a tremendous illegality. It is an invasion. Today we are an invaded country because that is the wish of Nino Vieira.

00.32.48

 

All of this should have gone through parliament but the president of the assembly had difficulty in dealing with the issue, his loyalty divided between the constitution and his own safety.

 

00.32.59

Malam Bacai Sanhá

 

Int: The motion for presence of the foreign troops should surely go through the parliament?

MBS: Obviously it would have to go through the parliament because according to our constitution it was up to the parliament to authorise the President to declare war. That is what is stipulated. Once the war had been declared then other actions could follow, namely reinforcement or the calling of foreign troops into the country.

Int: But according to the constitution the President of the Republic abused his power in this conflict?

MBS: I can't comment on that...

00.33.47

 

The first skirmishes happened in the Brá area, where the main military zones were situated. As they advanced and retreated, the rebels settled next to a majestic tree which gained a special significance during this war.

 

00.34.02

Alan Camara

 

 

This tree is the most important place to the rebels because it is here that the government tried to intensify its efforts to recover this area of Brá. This area was important because we have warehouses and barns full of arms and ammunition.

00.34.29

 

The scars of the violence of this conflict are plain to see. But the fact that the rebels won back this area and held onto it strengthened the zeal of many young soldiers.

 

00.34.40

André Mendes

 

AM: It was me who burned down that tank, with this bazooka.

Int: What is your name?

AM: My name is André Mendes. I trained in Vila Franca de Xira.

00.34.50

 

Scattered across the deserted road that links Bissau to the rest of the country, are messages from foreign troops, doomed never to reach their destination.

 

00.35.01

Letter:

 

"My dear wife, I am in the boat, writing you a few words..."

00.35.15

 

This message was intended for a soldier's wife in Guinea Conakry.

 

00.35.24

 

The biggest store of ammunition, which has now been reduced to ashes, was situated in Brá. The day it exploded many of the army here fled. They didn't stop running for 20km.

 

00.35.38

 

The rebels had their headquarters at the Air and Mechanical Base. Former soldiers and battle-ready young men joined forces with the rebel leaders. The rebellion spread and even captivated fighters coming from the south and from the Casamance region in Senegal, an area rife with seperatist movements.

 

00.36.04

Rebel soldier

 

Int: What is the name you have written in your helmet?

S- Khadaffi

Int: Why that name?

S- Because like him I am a revolutionary.

Int: Ah! You are a revolutionary?

S: We are fighting the rebellion because what Nino did wasn't right.

00.36.36

 

Fighters from the Casamance region were willing to join the rebels as both groups were enemies of the Senegalese government.

 

00.36.43

Rebel soldier

 

This is the area we control. People coming from town pass through here and we take any goods they have stolen and take them to the brigade. If we are not sure whether they are soldiers we interrogate them a little as there are a lots of spies.

00.37.15

 

The rebels controlled an area up to Bissalanca airport. Since the start of the conflict all air links to Guinea Bissau  were severed. The rebels had just one exception to the rule, which was never exploited.

 

00.37.26

Zamora Induta

 

We announced regularly that if it was for humanitarian ends we were willing to open the airport... but only for humanitarian ends.

00.37.40

 

The rebels made their voice heard throughout the country with a private radio station, captured during the first few days of the conflict. Bombolon Radio had deals with Portuguese Radio

and with the BBC, which the rebels wanted to maintain. They re-broadcast news items. It was an essential means of communication.

 

00.38.01

Zamora

 

Before we got the satellite phone there were no other means of communication apart from this radio station. As you know the phones were cut off, we were isolated, so for us it was very important. Also sometimes the other side would want to communicate, so they could communicate through their radio and we would reply through ours.

00.38.37

Broadcasting

 

The Supreme commando of the military junta for the consolidation of peace, democracy and justice has the following statement: Our comrades can verify with displeasure  some machine gunfire which occurred at 8.15pm at the front line. 

00.38.57

 

The radio was also a way to express their demands.

 

00.39.00

Soldier

 

We do not want power.. meaning that we are not interested in being the president, ministers, managing directors or anything. We have always promised that we will return to the barracks, which is our home.  We appreciate that there are democratically elected institutions in place, and we have no problem with the institutions themselves only with the way those institutions work. The institutions were democratically elected but they do not work on a democratic basis. That was one of the main reasons for the uprising.

 

Music

 

 

00.40.06

 

To the civilian population the radio was also of vital importance: it was their only way to follow the conflict.

 

00.40.13

Waldemar

 

I have listened to both sides' radio broadcasts and also to Portuguese Radio..they help a lot due to their impartiality, also the BBC. The national radio and the rebels both bombard us with military propaganda and politics which people do not understand. You have to listen to foreign radio to get a balanced view.

00.40.40

 

In an attempt to initiate a truce the CPLP (Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries) started a process of mediation. With all the terrestrial routes closed, the sea and the air were used as neutral points of contact. The  Portuguese navy took on the role of diplomatic brokers aiming to bring the two parties to direct dialogue. It was a lengthy process but by the end of July the first of four cease fire agreements was signed.

 

00.41.10

Signature of the cease fire

 

Cease of the hostilities.

Paragraph C: maintenance of the military positions of both parties from the morning of July 24th 1998: there must not be any movement of one military force against the other nor any increase in arms or military personnel. The truce takes effect from July 26th 1998.

00.41.43

 

Despite this agreement, the people were not convinced that peace would return to Guinea Bissau. The guns were silenced but the Senegalese military were still in Bissau and now they had the time to shore up their trenches in the city centre. The damage caused by the bombings was still too fresh for people to accept the presence of foreign troops and sure enough the guns did not stay silent for long.

 

00.42.08

Civilian man

 

We have been the victim of a series of threats made by Senegalese troops. At first,  they wanted to install pieces of artillery on the balcony of our building. But my father would not allow it and they got angry ...they began threatening us.  We have commercial aerials here for radio communication, installed in the company cars. They came over and removed the aerials thinking that they were for communication between the city centre and the air forces headquarters. They removed the aerials, and then wanted to remove the sand bags. We have to protect the downstairs lounge. It has been constant trouble.

00.42.53

 

All over the city, the roadblocks remained in place. The inhabitants of Bissau grew accustomed to the foreigners but the Senegalese forces kept their vigilance tight and made their presence felt.

 

00.43.08

Voice of Senegalese soldier

 

You have been told that you cannot film in that direction. You must restrict yourself. You must not film in that direction. Go over there. Over there.

00.43.28

 

You could travel a few kilometres down the road that links Bissau to the airport, but only under Senegalese guard. These hotels mark the start of no-man's land.

 

00.43.42

 

A few hundred metres further is the front line. The rebels remained loyal to their leaders, but as the conflict dragged on,  human values began to emerge. A cautious friendship grew amongst erstwhile enemies.

 

00.43.57

Rebel Soldier

 

Soldier: We meet with each other on occasion.

Int: And what do you talk about?

Soldier: They tell us they don't want any more war, they don't want to be fighting us. They want peace.

Int: Do you eat together?

S: Twice we have offered them meat that we had for a ceremony in the Poilão and we gave it to them. They have also asked for drinks and which we are pleased to give them .. And cigarettes as well. They came looking for cigarettes.

00.44.35

 

 

Int: We heard that you have also exchanged music?

Sol: Yes, they ask for blanti-blanti music heard on rebel radio.

Int: And how do they survive?

What do they think about this?

Sol: Well, as I said they say they do not want any more war, that we are brothers not enemies and that the war must end.

00.45.07

 

Many of the Senegalese troops pulled out in February 1999. But last year, the majority of the country was under the control of the rebels. Freedom of circulation was curtailed, just like it was in Bissau. Ropes spanned roads, marking out the territory. The Guinean people could only travel by foot.

 

00.45.28

 

The second largest city of Guinea Bissau, Bafatá, saw a considerable increase in the number of its inhabitants. Most were unemployed.

 

00.45.38

 

Raul Barros, a building contractor, was one new arrival. Like many, the paralysed economy affected him.

 

00.45.45

 

Raul Barros

 

RB: Imagine someone like me.. I am used to working hard, to making payments in bulk, to paying the people who work for me and now I am living like a parasite. I can't stand it

00.45.57

 

Both the old and new inhabitants of the city found life hard. Labosseide has spent the last 25 years bending over a sewing machine, making elegant men's suits, but nowadays he can hardly find any cloth.

 

00.46.14

Labosseide

 

Labosseide ( through interpreter): It is very difficult to find materials

Int: During this period of war, do you still have clients or has business diminished?

Iab: Slowly I am  gaining some clients, especially women.

00.46.45

 

Despite the terrible conditions,  Bafata tried to preserve an air of normality. The cinema opened  its doors for business every day.

 

00.46.56

 

 

Int: Do many people come to see the movies?

Man: Yes, we show four movies every day. One at 4pm, one at 7 pm, another at 9pm and another at 10.30 pm.

Int: Every day? You never closed?

Man: No. If we have a problem we just use the generator.

00.47.12

 

Cinema is a flight from reality. But an evening with Jean Claude Van Damme, even if it's a cassette which has been played a thousand times, is better than real life.

 

00.47.44

 

And when humanitarian aid reached the interior of Guinea Bissau, the situation was just as unreal. The small town of Sonaco had never witnessed so many hungry people.

 

00.47.58

Aid worker

 

We are distributing goods and food, for those internally displaced by the war.

00.48.02

 

Like many African countries, Guinea Bissau now hosts its own internal refugee community, enfeebled by war.

 

00.48.15

Aid worker

 

The scene here is not due to disorganisation, it is simply due to the  tiredness of the people.

Int: Every one has to give their name?

Man: No, the head of each household brings his voucher. When he shows his voucher, we cross out his name on the list and from there he takes the voucher to the distribution point.

00.48.46

 

Each person has the right to 6 kg of corn flour, 2 litres of oil, 2 kg of porridge and 1 kg of dried fish. It is barely enough to keep a person alive.

 

00.48.58

Aid worker

 

Man: It is not going to last a long time.

Int: How long?

Man: For a big family it might last two or three days.

Int: And afterwards?

Man: Afterwards they'll go hungry again.

00.49.12

 

The food crisis was widespread. Catholic missions across the country helped distribute aid to the people. Priests toiled to  confront the lack of food, medicines and other goods.

 

00.49.29

 

In the north of the country, Father José had to develop many skills. He has spent so much time here that he has adapted to the difficulties. Today, he even doubles as a mechanic. Maintaining people's cars is a vital skill in terms of helping those who are desperate.

 

00.49.46

Father José

 

The situation is very, very serious, you could even say tragic. During the first  three months, almost nothing arrived. We had to go looking for it, especially medicines because we had run out of everything.

00.49.59

 

The conflict did not spare the country's northern frontier either. On the other side of the forest are Senegal's rebels of Casamance, who used this area as a passageway into Guinea Bissau.

 

00.50.11

Father José

 

The Casamance rebels came over here  and seemingly offered help to the local rebels. It is hard to gain an accurate picture, but from what I know and reports that we received, Ansumane refused this help initially but then accepted it and even welcomed it, because the Casamance rebels were fighting against the Senegalese army. It is not hard to believe that is the case.

00.50.50

 

Long after the first cease fire had been signed, the north was still suffering from the war. St Domingos hospital was attacked in the last days of August.

 

00.51.01

Mariana

 

Int: Who was dropping bombs?

Mariana: The Senegalese.

Int: Why were they bombing here?

Mariana: I don't know, because of this conflict, because Senegalese men are dying in Bissau, they stay here firing cannons at us. Senegalese are dying in Bissau so they have to kill Guineans here in St Domingos.

00.51.25

 

Many patients abandoned the hospital because of the bombings. During the day, only those with no alternative stayed here. But there were no resources to help them. There was no medicine, no water, no electricity or food. And no one was able to provide help.

 

00.51.41

Mariana

 

At home there is no one to help  them. If a child is ill its mother will bring it to the hospital to receive first aid. If the nurse or the doctor on duty tells them their child needs to be admitted they will refuse. On many occasions the family will take the children back home where they become more ill and die. We have had children dying at home because the relatives are scared of the bombings here.

00.52.11

 

Gabu is in the east of Guinea Bissau. It used to be a thriving town with a busy trading relationship with neighbouring Guinea Conakry. Local traders used to cross the border to buy merchandise which they would send to other parts of the country.

There used to be constant comings and goings, but those who provided the transport have no passengers today.

 

00.52.37

Border Trader

 

For example, this Land Cruiser would travel every 5 or 8 days taking approximately 14 people, but not any more. Before the war started a Land Cruiser would park here for a day and a half to go to Conakry or other places. But now just one Land Cruiser is parked here and has been for weeks.

00.53.08

 

Since the borders have closed, day to day life has become more of a struggle. One of the most serious consequences being that food cannot be found. The rice warehouses are almost empty, but no one can afford to buy rice anyway. Ekeing out enough money to buy rice is the first step - it then has to be rationed out.

 

00.53.30

Local trader

 

Man: There are people here who go hungry . People are suffering greatly. I brought rice here to help them.

Int: Do people have money to buy it?

Man: Some do, some don't. Some say it is a bit difficult and they can't buy it.  Others  buy it, but struggle to. They are not making any money, they don't work, they don't earn anything.

00.53.59

 

Despite the hardships, the  small traders always survive, selling whatever the land provides, from mint leaves to corn on the cob.

 

00.54.04

Boy shouting:

 

Corn on the cob, corn on the

 cob.

00.54.12

 

The Buba river is deep and wide. ..and the fish are plentiful. But fishermen have little incentive to fish any more because there are no customers - no-one has money to spend.

 

00.54.25

 

They pass the time fixing their

nets and hoping for good times to return.

 

00.54.30

 

War has forced many people to abandon the towns and cities and seek refuge in the countryside.

In the middle of this forest, Sadjo gathered his entire family together to try and strengthen their village, or tabanca. More than 30 people live communally under the careful eye of one old woman.

 

00.54.50

Sadjo

 

I managed to bring together my family and friends and we had a meeting. We decided that we could not run away and abandon the tabanca , because if we did so, tomorrow we may have nothing to eat. If we left we would have no time to work on new land but here we have already planted the pampam,  if we abandoned it we would be in crisis. Although there is no money, there is food and we do what we can to stay alive.

00.55.23

 

Pampam is their livelihood, which is rice planted in dry land.

Sadjo also goes to the river to fish and he smokes his catch in  order to preserve it.

 

00.55.36

Sadjo

 

Sadjo: The fish becomes dry and will not go off. It can last up to a week without going off. So it remains fresh and ready to be eaten.

Int: Where do you go fishing?

Sadjo: Over here at Buba river. The large Buba river has a smaller river which is called Bubatumbo.

00.55.54

 

Like most Guinean families, they only cook once a day here too. This community is lucky in some respects: they worry about eachother and ensure that everyone eats at least once a day.

 

00.56.07

 

Sadjo has lived in Europe and  he has worked in a hotel in Bissau; but he has decided to go back to his roots to preserve his rural community.

 

00.56.15

Sadjo

 

I work as a guide in this park, as an interpreter and also as a representative of the people who live here, because most of the people who live here in the national park of Cufada belong to my ethnic group.

Int: What is your ethnic group?

Sadjo: Biafado.

00.56.45

 

This ethnic group is Muslim and it preserves ancestral traditions. On this plank of wood, words of the Koran are being written, words which have a  medicinal value. Those who write them believe it to be a miraculous recipe to prevent headaches. Once the words are written they are erased. This becomes a liquid which is sprinkled on the body and which is supposed to exert a sacred power. But the ritual is not supposed to be witnessed by anyone.

 

00.57.11

 

Troops from both sides of the war passed through the tabanca during the conflict. The community escaped unscathed and Sadjo thinks you survive war by ignoring it.

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